Sports Betting, Problem Gambling, And Suicide: Are Operators Doing Enough?

Researchers have consistently found that problem gamblers have a higher suicide rate than virtually any other group with addictive behavior.

“If you’re experiencing gambling behaviors problematically, your risk of thinking about suicide and attempting suicide are hugely elevated, and that can’t all be explained by other things,” said Heather Wardle of the University of Glasgow, one of the UK’s leading problem gambling researchers. “There is a mechanism in there for gambling to specifically heighten these things. We don’t know exactly how this works, but there is a role that cannot be diminished.” 클레오카지노 먹튀검증

In short: While research has shown a link between problem gambling and suicidal ideation, no one has yet cracked the code as to what, exactly, is going on in the mind of someone who believes they have reached a point of no return.

“We specifically are looking to see if there is something else that explains this, like substance abuse, or mental health disorders, or impulsivity, or anything that kind of explains this relationship,” Wardle said. “But even when you take those things into account, the relationship between problem gambling and suicide sits and it’s really strong. We’ve got this kind of statistical evidence, but also have this really strong network of people affected by gambling-related suicides, essentially the parents of — and it’s usually — young men. We have the empirical statistical evidence and the lived experience evidence.” 파라오카지노 먹튀검증

Big problem, small absolute numbers

“How big a problem is it? We know that people with severe gambling problems — and I want to stress severe, not all problem gamblers — have among the highest rates of suicidal behavior among any of the addictive disorders,” said Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. “That’s fairly nuanced and caveated — the studies are all over the place — but the point is someone with a severe gambling problem is at a much higher risk for suicidal behavior than someone with a severe alcohol or drug problem, or severe depression, or any number of things.”

Whyte has been in charge of the NCPG for nearly a quarter century, and suicide prevention has always been something it has stressed to operators of all stripes. 뉴헤븐카지노 먹튀검증

American Gaming Association responds

One key question here is what, exactly, are the operators doing about it? What kind of training are their employees going through? How far up the ladder does it go? How does an operator know when it’s time to step in and offer help? 

Repeated calls and emails to various operators on this subject were not returned, but Cait DeBaun, the vice president of strategic communications and responsibility for the American Gaming Association, did respond to the request.

“Responsible gaming is our industry’s highest priority,” DeBaun wrote in an email. “Online gaming provides customers with robust tools to wager responsibly as players can set limits on the time they spend gaming, individual wager amounts, and how much they deposit. This puts customers in control of their play while providing operators more insight into player behavior to engage with anyone who may need a break.

NCPG urges training for all

“Every gaming employee should be trained, not just the customer-facing ones,” Whyte said. “If you’re in the gambling business, every one of your employees should be trained — I don’t care if they’re housekeeping — on responsible gambling, including what to say and what to do if there’s a potentially suicidal problem gambler. Customer-facing employees need more extensive training, some basic ‘what do you say, what do you do,’ and supervisors and managers and others need an even more intensive course.”

Change in the air?

For researchers like Wardle, all the talk of responsible gambling by the industry is for naught unless the companies start thinking long and hard about their business practices. Again, she’s coming at this from the UK perspective, but she notes American operators would be wise to take note.

“A lot of this comes down to the fundamental operating model,” she said. “It’s kind of a misnomer — because the advertising is everywhere — that you think everyone is gambling, but it’s actually a small proportion of people who actually engage in sports betting, or are playing the online casino products, and an even smaller proportion of people who the operators actually generate significant profits off, and it’s that group that tend to be the most harmed by their gambling. So you have this underlying economic model that profits from exploitation of those most harmed.